The party was in full swing by the time Takako Chigusa arrived.

She hadn't planned to come, but then Hiroki had asked her and she'd only managed to hold out for about five minutes. So here she was.

And maybe it was good that she was here, because everyone was here, and even though she probably wouldn't end up managing to talk to any of the other girls, it was worth a shot. But right now all she really wanted was to find Hiroki, because standing at the doorway clutching at her skirt like a four-year-old wasn't something that she wanted to do forever, even if she had a good excuse in the fact that it was windy outside.

So she shut the door behind her and slid around the edges of the crowd, scanning for Hiroki. She didn't bother looking at the middle of the floor, because there was no way that Hiroki was anywhere but standing awkwardly at the edge, and-

And she'd just collided with someone. She looked up, expecting Hiroki (or if she was feeling more pessimistic, Niida, who would just let her run into him) and getting Kazuo Kiriyama. She took a few steps away, a little surprised that he'd bothered to show up. He glanced at her, and then turned back to his conversation with Mitsuru Numai.

She'd go around them. Or maybe she'd just cut straight through everything, skirt her way around Shinji Mimura and Yutaka Seto and – was that Chisato? What was she doing with Mimura? – continue her search on the other side. She was tall, for a girl, but most of the boys were taller than her anyway and even wearing heels didn't help her see over everyone's heads. Hiroki was tall, and if he'd stand up straight she'd be able to see him no matter what, but he was probably slouching next to a wall, or sitting down.

She slid through the crowd. The girls and most of the guys parted for her immediately, drawing away with mutters that she ignored with her head high. She ignored Mimura when he grinned at her but she did give a shy smile back to Noriko Nakagawa. She looked like she was having fun, dancing and laughing with a few of her girl friends. Takako could see Nanahara and Nobu a few feet away, talking to each other in low voices and sending quick glances over to Nakagawa, and checked to see if Hiroki was near them. He was friends with them, she knew that-

But no. He was absolutely nowhere to be seen.

Takako, having made her way to the other side of the room where a few large, cushy chairs had been dragged out, slumped down into one. She didn't actually know whose idea this party had been, just that Hiroki had invited her and she'd assumed that she'd be able to find him. He wouldn't invite her if he wasn't planning to be there, and he'd never really let her down before… he could be in the bathroom, or trying to find her just as hard as she was trying to find him.

Either way, she was going to stay in one place. Her feet were killing her, because even though she loved these shoes she didn't quite know how much longer she was going to be able to stay wandering around in them. She wished that she'd gone with her gut instinct and just thrown on some tennis shoes, but she'd wanted to dress up. She'd wanted to look good. It was something she was good at, looking good.

"Are you having fun?"

Takako glanced up to meet Yuichiro Takiguchi's eyes. She blinked, a little startled, and glanced around. "Yes," she said, once absolutely sure that he was talking to her. He sat down in the chair across from her, seemingly not bothered by anything. "Have you seen Hiroki?"

Takiguchi seemed to think on it, and shook his head. He looked genuinely sorry about it, something that freaked Takako out a bit, because nobody was as genuine as Takiguchi was acting, and because she'd never really thought about him when he wasn't in her direct line of sight. It suddenly occurred to her that all of her classmates she rarely thought about, rarely talked to if she could help it, were all people. People with their own concerns and personalities. Yoshio Akamatsu, Satomi Noda, Keita Iijima – and in front of her, Yuichiro Takiguchi, looking so freaked out that she thought he might pass out.

"Are you okay?" she asked, and Takiguchi looked down, a slight flush entering his cheeks.

"Will you get mad at me if I say this was practice?" he asked, and Takako frowned.

"Practice for what?"

"You're the second most intimidating girl in the class," he said. Takako's eyes trailed across the room until her gaze landed on Mitsuko Souma, talking to her girls with her shirt unbuttoned almost to the navel, then glanced back to Takiguchi. "So… I thought… if I could talk to you… I could…"

He bit down on his lower lip.

"It was going well, wasn't it?" Takiguchi asked.

"Sure," Takako said, and something in her voice made his face fall. Great job, Takako, he already looks nervous as hell. Might as well crush the rest of his dreams. "It was. People don't just come up and talk to me. It was different."

"I'll just hope that's a good thing," Takiguchi said, managing to meet her eyes and smile. He seemed to get more comfortable as the conversation went on, which seemed like something so enviable to Takako. She couldn't talk to other girls because she didn't know how to start the conversation, or because when she tried to jump into other ones they all left. It was her fault, she knew, because she possibly had worse social skills than Hiroki and didn't really care what others thought most of the time, and that had given them all the feeling that she didn't like them. Which wasn't entirely true.

It was sometimes true. But not always.

"I need to find Hiroki," she said, standing up. Takiguchi straightened and nodded. She started to leave, then hesitated. "Thanks."

Then she left, not wanting to be in that conversation any longer than she had to. She'd talk to Mimura. He'd know where everyone was.

It didn't take her long to find Shinji Mimura. He was taking a break at the snack table, his shirt sticking to his skin with sweat and his hair still jutting up in dangerous spikes. "Chigusa!" he said when he saw her approach. She saw a smirk start to appear on his face and held up her hand.

"Save it. Where's Hiroki?"

He blinked, but recovered, propping up his elbow on the always-present Seto. "Putting up mistletoe."

"What? Christmas is over."

"Yeah, no reason we can't still have some," he said. He shrugged, then grinned, sharklike. "On the New Year, kissing someone from one year to the next should always happen. Sometimes people need a little more prompting. So who's the lucky guy, Chigusa?"

"Nobody," Takako said, even as the thought of Hiroki flitted through her head. He liked someone, she knew that much, and she couldn't let herself get her hopes up in the fact that it was her. "Where is he right now?"

"He'll be coming back sooner or later," Mimura said, waving a hand. Then his grin died. "Agh, you feel like entertaining an asshole?"

"No," Takako said. Mimura clapped her on the shoulder.

"Great. Iijima incoming. I don't want to deal with his cowardly ass," he said, and left. Seto stayed where he was. Takako turned to leave, deciding that he would leave whatever weird rivalry they had to themselves. She didn't leave fast enough to miss the conversation –

"Wasn't Mimura just here?"

"What? Nope. Of course not. He's helping Sugimura hang up mistletoe."

"Mistletoe? What?"

"Yes."

Takako was only distracted from their conversation by bumping into someone and getting a drink spilled all over her front. "Oh, no, I'm sorry!"

Takako took a few steps back and there was Kayoko Kotohiki, holding her drink and looking absolutely mortified. Takako stood there, her arms out at her sides, liquid soaking through her shirt.

It was then that Hiroki decided to show up.

"Takako! I've been looking all over for-" as soon as he saw Kotohiki his voice cut out. He grabbed Takako's hand and pulled her away, grabbing some napkins as he passed the snack table, where Seto was now trying to convince Iijima that Mimura did not and had not ever existed.

He sat down Takako and dabbed at her shirt. "Weirdo," she said, grabbing the napkins from him and doing it herself. He met her eyes and they both smiled, Takako unsuccessfully trying to hide it. "What was up with that fast exit back there? Kotohiki's going to think you hate her."

"Will she?" Hiroki said, his face scrunching up in concern.

"Of course she will! You can't just run away from girls. You'll never get a girlfriend that way," she said. Hiroki looked absolutely bemused, and she rolled her eyes. Someone cleared their throat and both Takako and Hiroki jumped.

"Sitting under the mistletoe," Mimura said.

"Where did you even come from?" Hiroki said, frowning.

"Come on, you two. Everyone thinks you're dating already, just give them some juice for the New Year. Thirty seconds now," Mimura said. He sat down beside Sugimura, sprawling back with one arm tossed over the back of the chair and his legs open. "Twenty. Ten. Nine-"

"Hug it out," Takako said, and Hiroki enveloped her in his arms and she leaned her head against his chest, smelling the smell that was so Hiroki and feeling so safe, even if it was a ten second hug because Shinji Mimura wouldn't leave them alone. "By the way, you're just as under the mistletoe with him as I am."

"Very true," Mimura said. She heard him move, and then felt his legs press against her back as he leaned over her to peck Hiroki on the lips. "And I didn't pussy out."

Thankfully he left, and Takako Chigusa was in the arms of Hiroki Sugimura and couldn't be happier. Even if it was just a hug for the New Year.

This was requested by a user on Tumblr who wanted just a holiday party involving everyone. I normally do Mimura or Yutaka or Noriko or Shuuya POVs and wanted to try out something different, so Chigusa you get. Chigusa and her quest to find Sugimura.